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Hachioji Park, Sunday 3rd June,
The Geckoes faced France in a relegation decider at Hachioji Park on Sunday afternoon. With the Celts losing to already relegated Jetro in the game before, it meant that the Geckoes needed two points from their remaining two games to clinch safety, for the French it was simply a must win.
The Geckoes kicked off but most of the early pressure was coming from the French with their number 19 causing all sorts of problems in the first 10 minutes. He nearly scored after a deep cross beat the defence, but he was unable to control the ball and only managed to direct it wide. Realising the threat, the Geckoes had the outstanding Nat Man mark him and he was pretty much marked out of the rest of the game. Both teams continued to push for a goal and both had players clean through only for the referee, Quentin (who had an excellent game), to overrule the linesmen and give offside decisions against them.
France nearly scored direct from a corner due to a ‘slight’ misunderstanding in the Geckoes defence but the ball hit the post and we were never really in trouble
In the second half the Geckoes started taking the game to the French but the French were the ones who came closest to scoring. The ball was played through and the French forward broke the offside trap (at least according to Quentin) and Rob made a good save down to his left. The Geckoes then started to control the game and had a few half chances to take the lead but weren’t able to connect. With about 15 minutes gone there was a good passing move that led to a chance for Mikkel but he could only direct his shot on to the bar.
With 10 minutes to go it looked like we were heading for a draw, but the French gave away a free kick on the half way line. Captain Brommie took a quick free-kick out to the right where Kenta sprinted forward and put in the perfect cross for Kazu Kikuchi to knock the ball in. 1-0 Geckoes and that’s the way it stayed.
On the balance of play the result may have been a bit harsh on the French, but the Geckoes have felt the same after many games this season and as they say ‘C’est la vie.’
The Geckoes can now look forward to Division 1 football again next season whereas the French have to hope that the Geckoes can put eight past the Celts.
But before that, there’s the cup final to look forward to on Saturday.
Bring it on!
Report by Rob Manager
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